I heard that too, but my bear went to ac as his first con and he had a good time.

It is huge, tho. If you were feeling the crowd at MWFF, it comes across very similar to that. 2x the people in maybe 4x the space.

I went to MCFC with a totally different mindset than I did at MFF and ended up having a blast, so I think that solved my problem of being freaked out about being on my own and stuff like that, difference in the con sizes aside!

AC was my first furry con, and I adored it. I was used to conventions though (Anime cons). It's a big convention center and tons of people. It's great to just meet lots of new people. If you do go, let me know, it's always good to have some people to hang out with at all times rather than being alone, and I wouldn't mind meeting you and hanging! :D

It was my first furry con, but "big" is a bit of a misnomer in my opinion. It's big for a furry con, but it's tiny compared to large anime or sci-fi conventions.

Here are some tricks:

Don't try to set concrete plans. They will NOT hold together and you'll get frustrated.

If you want to attend programming events like panels or concerts, put them on your schedule but be prepared and willing to bail on those plans to hang out with people.

There are a LOT of people there (again, relatively), and so you should expect not to bump into anyone you know by accident. When you DO, then it's a great surprise.

Ultimately, get phone numbers and make yourself available via text and/or twitter for quick-response to dinner/hangout invites. Find things to do and talk to new people. Hang out in the zoo or visit the gaming rooms.

Heh, it's funny that once I went to my first actual con, I didn't remember to follow these at all, but now the idea of not making any concrete plans and wandering alone are all I actually did once I got to do AC.